Category Archives: Shop PGH

Steel of the Week: “Bridges of Pittsburgh”

For this week’s Steel of the Week, we are featuring one of the perks from the Knit the Bridge Indiegogo campaign! “Bridges of Pittsburgh” by Bob Regan with photos by Tim Fabian is available when you make a donate through their campaign site. This paperbound book includes photos from the many bridges in our city, including the Warhol that Knit the Bridge will be yarn bombing! Through vintage and modern photographs and descriptions, this book highlights some of the 446 bridges in Pittsburgh. Another interesting aspect of the book is that it contains ten self-guided tours for walkers, cyclists, drivers, and boaters. You can earn this perk with a $50 donation to the Indiegogo campaign.

Interested in learning more about this project?

“Knit the Bridge is a grassroots, community-led arts project that brings the many diverse communities of Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania together to create a large-scale, aesthetically stunning, fiberarts installation on the Andy Warhol/7th Street Bridge. The installation will be on view from August 12th until September 6th, 2013.”

Visit their site for me and to see how you can get involved!

If you have an item you would like featured as our Steel of the Week, submit to sotw@iheartpgh.com!

Four Awesome Pittsburgh Projects That Need Your Support

Here are three amazingly awesome crowd-funding projects by some of my favorite Pittsburghers and my current project that are looking for some crowd-funded support. I know each of these projects creators personally and I think all of these are great projects for Pittsburgh. Check out some of the great thank-you perks for supporting each projects.

http://storify.com/iheartpgh/four-awesome-pittsburgh-project-to-support

Steel of the Week: Yinzer Bingo

This week’s featured Steel of the Week is Yinzer Bingo by John the Craftist. Seen at Boutique 208, you are sure to get a kick out of this unique bingo card if you are from the Pittsburgh area. All the spaces on the card are relevant to the area, such as “Road Work”, “Pothole”, “Terrible Towel”, “Big Ben Jersey”, with some of the more culturally unique ones being ”Pgh Left”, “Jean Shorts”, “Confusing Intersection”, “80s Bangs”, and “Jagoff”. John the Craftist’s products mostly consist of PGH-centric/Pittsburghese greeting cards, along with magnets, keychains, buttons, gift tags, and other small paper craft items. Zodiac birthday cards are also available. All the products are handprinted, handcut, and hand-folded by John the Craftist, who is actually Thea Okonak of Aspinwall.

Along with Boutique 208, John’s stockists include The Mattress Factory Museum, The Shop at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Wildcard in Lawrenceville, Koolkat Designs in Mt. Lebanon, and Nota Bene in Aspinwall. John also vends at he I Made It! Market events, and this past year sold with Koolkat Designs at the Three Rivers Arts Festival and with Steeltown Etsy at Handmade Arcade.

You can get a first look at new cards by checking out the Facebook page, http://facebook.com/johnthecraftist. This is where you can also find out the next vending location and interact to give feedback or stories about the products you’ve enjoyed!

Have an item you would like featured as our Steel of the Week? Submit to sotw@iheartpgh.com!

Steel of the Week: Custom Chuck Taylors

This week’s featured item is a pair of one of a kind Converse Chuck Taylor shoes. Mad Momma Designs on the South Side hand-painted these sneakers. They are being auctioned on eBay with proceeds benefitting The Feast of Saint Anthony Festival Committee. The Feast of St. Anthony of Padua commemorates the life of the patron saint of lost items, a priest, wonder-worker, and doctor of the Church. This is a festival celebrated annually in Pittsburgh and across the country. Most of St. Anthony’s work was done in Italy, which is why Pittsburgh’s festival is focused on Italian highlights such as an Italian mass, homemade wine contest, and spaghetti-eating contest.

If your bid doesn’t earn you these shoes, there is another way to support the fund. Two all-inclusive trips to Italy (airfare included!) are up for grabs by purchasing a $50 ticket that will be based on the PA Daily Lottery Drawing, 7 pm Thursday, December 26. The trip is scheduled for September 13 through 25, 2014.

The auction ends Friday morning, so make sure you head over and place your bid asap!

Have an item you would like featured as our Steel of the Week? Submit to sotw@iheartpgh.com!

Shopping Downtown At the Arts Festival

Visitors interested in shopping at this year’s Arts Festival won’t be disappointed. The Artist Market, which runs every day during the festival from 12-8pm, offers many unique items such as wearable fiber, precious jewelry, and other mediums like ceramics, drawings, mixed media, photography, and paintings. Creators of these pieces come from all parts of the country after applying and being selected to participate. Their art is available for purchase right at the event for you to take home.

Once you’ve finished walking around the market, you don’t have to stop shopping. Many other downtown shops will be open, some late at night and during the weekend, while the Arts Festival is running. The downtown area conveniently offers department stores, boutiques, and retail centers in close proximity. You can also stop to eat at Fifth Avenue Place at 120 Fifth Avenue and check out the many retail shops located inside the center. One of their stores, Crystal River Gems, will be offering special deals on handmade jewelry during the festival. Laurie’s Hallmark is also offering free bracelets every Friday in June with any purchase of at least $10. For a full listing of stores in Downtown Pittsburgh, check out this Shop & Dine Guide from DowntownPittsburgh.com. There is something for everyone in the downtown shopping area during the Arts Festival, from apparel, books, electronics, bakery items, jewelry, shoes, and even wine and spirits.

Here is A List of Downtown Merchants and their Weekend Hours

	Saturday	Sunday
Artist Market	12:00pm-8:00pm	12:00pm-8:00pm
Added Touch 120 Fifth Avenue	10:00am-3:00pm
Amazing Books 929 Liberty Avenue		11:30am-4:00pm
Avenue 120 Fifth Avenue	10:00am-3:00pm
Boutique 208 208 6th Street	11:00am-8:00pm	11:00am-5:00pm
Boutique la Passerelle 417 Wood Street	10:00am-5:00pm
Broadway Army Navy 909 Liberty Avenue	10:00am-5:00pm
Brooks Brothers 600 Smithfield Street	9:30am-6:00pm
Burlington Coat Factory 339 Sixth Avenue	9:00am-8:00pm	12:00pm-5:00pm
Canadian Fur Company 625 Smithfield Street	9:00am-2:00pm
Carl W. Herrmann Furs 634 Smithfield Street	9:00am-5:00pm
Crystal River Gems 120 Fifth Avenue	10:00am-4:00pm
Debwal 125 W. Station Square Drive	10:00am-10:00pm	12:00pm-5:00pm
Denim Express 439 Wood Street	9:30am-6:00pm
Designer Outlet 311 Forbes Avenue	11:00am-4:00pm
Eide’s Entertainment 1121 Penn Avenue	9:30am-6:30pm	10:00am-5:30pm
Emphatics 301 Grant Street	10:00am-5:00pm
Ends-N-Odds 125 W. Station Square Drive	10:00am-9:00pm	12:00pm-5:00pm
Heinz Healey’s 160 Fifth Avenue	9:30am-5:30pm
Hometowne Sports 125 W. Station Square Drive	10:00am-10:30pm	10:00am-6:00pm
Jos. A. Bank 230 Fifth Avenue	9:00am-8:00pm	12:00pm-6:00pm
Joseph Orlando 606 Liberty Avenue	9:30am-5:00pm
Kountz & Rider 301 Grant Street	9:30am-5:00pm
Larrimor’s 249 Fifth Avenue	9:00am-6:00pm
Laurie’s Hallmark 120 Fifth Avenue	10:00am-3:00pm
Lydell’s 120 Fifth Avenue	10:00am-3:00pm
Macy’s 400 Fifth Avenue	9:00am-6:00pm	12:00pm-5:00pm
N.J. Richetti Fine Men’s Clothing 301 Grant Street	10:00am-5:00pm
New York New York 125 W. Station Square Drive	10:00am-12:00am	11:00am-8:00pm
Oxford Centre Wine & Spirits 320 Smithfield Street	10:00am-5:30pm
Pennsylvania Wine Cellars 125 W. Station Square Drive	10:00am-9:00pm	12:00pm-9:00pm
Pittsburgh Popcorn Company 822 Liberty Avenue	10:00am-5:00pm
Serendipity Accessories 2 PPG Place	10:00am-4:00pm
Social Status 717 Liberty Avenue	10:00am-8:00pm
ToonSeum 945 Liberty Avenue		10:00am-5:00pm
Unforgettable Oxford Oxford Center	10:00am-5:00pm
WEAR on Market Square 433 Market Street	10:00am-6:00pm